OT: Is anyone watching AC Milan vs. Arsenal?

It's halftime now, but Arsenal has put themselves in a position to pull off the unlikely comeback. After going down 4-0 in the first leg at the San Siro, Arsenal would have to score at least five in the second leg today--without conceding--to advance to the next round.

Well the Gunners have come out swinging, netting their first goal 5 or so minutes after kickoff. After 45 minutes of play, Arsenal is up 3-0 (down only 4-3 on aggregate). With Milan pressing to get the all-important away goal (which would change the complexion of the match), it has been a wide open affair, with the pace of the match slowed only by questionable officiating. Sets up nicely for a thrilling second half.

I don't know if this was a problem in the first half, but Milan is giving up too much space in the center MF area. Aresenal MF players are able to just run with the ball without anyone closing down on them.

Greetings from Bolivia.

"It's special how the real true people hang together. And if you don't support the program you're not a true Michigan guy. It's that simple." - Gary Moeller

My cable provider just added Fox Soccer and I am loving it. First half was crazy. But not as crazy as that Abiatti save. Incredible. I want Arsenal to add another as I want to see some overtime or penalties.

For a' that, an' a' that,
Our toils obscure an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that.

Offtopic - am I the only one that feels having Real Madrid win La Liga when they continue to lose to Barcelona upsetting? Sure, Barca has played down to lower competition a bit but head-to-head has been tremendously (see what I did there?) one-sided.]

As an aside, im afraid we have drastically different transfer market hopes. I dont ever want Robin Van Persie (or Neymar for that matter) on Barca. The dude is good but he's so streaky. And he's a dick. I'd much rather we continue to promote youngsters like Cristian Tello, Isaac Cuenca, Gerard Delofeu, and Sergi Samper.

You're making a lot of sense. I didn't realize RVP is a dick - I just like his game. But I love Cuenca and Tello is growing on me (his first step is so quick) that I'd hate to see them lose playing time. I've only seen Delofeu once and he looked good.

Other than Messi (obviously), I think I've been most impressed with Alexis' gutsiness (new word) since I've started watching soccer regularly.

I DVR'ed the game but I can't wait. I find myself disliking Italian soccer more and more and would love to see Milan lose. Although, if Arsenal loses maybe it puts Van Persie all that closer to joining my beloved Barca . . .

Italian is my favorite. Mostly because my roommates and I did a Manager Mode in Fifa 08 and started out with Lecce and took them to incredible heights. None of us know a lick about soccer strategy but we had a great time with it. But my favorite team across Europe is Wolverhampton and it just developed that way because it was easier to find information about the Wolves than it was for Lecce because of the language barrier. But my mom's family is Italian and I just like to stick to the roots for the msot part.

For a' that, an' a' that,
Our toils obscure an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that.

They may have lost on aggregate, but I hope the Gunners throw their support behind Wenger. He may be a dick sometimes but he is a helluva manager and knows how to mold young players into some of the world's best.

A bit anticlimactic in the end. Milan hunkered down and defended and Arsenal seemed to move away from what was working in the first half. Van Percie will be thinking about his point blank chance for the equalizer against Abbiati, who was on the ground and came up huge in the end. 3-0 is your final. Milan are through.

Valiant effort from the Gunners after what was a disgusting performance at the San Siro. RvP will be haunted by that missed opportunity, but it's hard to be upset with him with how he has carried this team on his back. Hopefully they can take this performance as a positive and finish the EPL season strong, fend off Chelsea and claim that 4th slot in the table.